“Jason, I can’t go in a bar,” Kaiden waits at the door after I walk through.
“It’s not a bar, it’s a tavern. Besides it’s noon, nobody is drinking at noon. Now come on,” I take his shoulder and guide him in.
“No kids in my bar,” a gruff looking man calls out from behind the bar.
Based on Dalia’s description this is Sam. Half Leprechaun, half elf, full werewolf. His appearance looks it for sure. A bald head with faded Celtic tattoos, a wild and fiery red beard. Tall as an elf but as muscular as a Dwarf. His belly is hanging over his belt, but there’s muscle beneath it. I could see the fire in his eyes, ready to fight even if he was older now. Dalia said he was always looking for a fight, and that’s how he got excommunicated. Doesn’t look much has changed since then.
“We’ll be quick. I promise,” I plead with him.
“I ain’t got nothing for kids,” he argues.
“We should go Jason,” Kaiden turns to leave, I pull him back.
“Kid goes where I go. Dalia said I could find work here. I’m just here to check it out,” I stare back at him matching his intensity.
“Sweet, sweet, Dalia sent you,” the intensity turns to passion.
“Yeah, I’m Jason, this is Kaiden. I’m exiled, he’s, lost.”
“Well, any friend of pretty Dalia’s is a friend of mine. Should have just said so. If you’re looking for work, I’ve got work,” he hands me a menu and snaps his fingers.
The food items vanish and the letters rearrange. Instead of a menu, the pages hold job listings. New Jersey Devil sighting, Springhill Jack wanted dead or alive, demon haunting boarding school. Vampires holding an orphanage hostage, werewolf terrorizing the zoo. Vampire clan seeking the return of an amulet stolen by exiled member. Assassin wanted. This is the kind of stuff I live for. If I had known this place was here, I would have been working these jobs instead of making sandwiches. Unfortunately, with my limited supplies the jobs that interest me most are off the table.
“So, how’s Dalia? Still the same I assume,” Sam asks leaning over the bar and sucking in his stomach as if she were here.
“Don’t know, I got exiled. She sent me a kid and a letter.”
“Teenager, she sent you a teenager and a letter. But, she’s doing just fine,” Kaiden answers.
“Still gazing into that crystal ball,” Sam asks.
“Of course,” Kaiden laughs.
“Yeah, I miss her. I used to have a thing for her. Always wanted to make love with her. Then Elser had to stick his nose in the business. Swept her right off her feet.”
“Ew,” Kaiden whispers under his breath.
“Yeah, that’s more than I needed,” sometimes I forget those two are a couple.
“You had to see her back then, smooth warm sepia skin, smelling like the perfect mixture of cocoa, cinnamon and peppermint. She had legs for days, and nights. That wasn’t even her best asset because when the she would put on a...”
“HEY,” I stop him before he goes further, “she raised me. You’re basically talking about my mom, so please cut that shit out.”
“Yeah, she took care of me too. This whole conversation is unhealthy,” Kaiden adds looking mortified.
“Whatever, I’m going to grab you some food. We’re not serving lunch yet so the cook isn’t here. Don’t expect anything fancy. It’s on the house before you say anything, doesn’t seem like you can afford to pay,” he vanishes behind a kitchen door but his laugh keeps going.
“I don’t like him,” Kaiden whispers.
“Well, he’s all we got for real work.”
“We gonna go kill some vampires?”
“You’re not ready for that yet.”
“Then what are we gonna do?”
“Something simple. We’re going to go clear out some Leprechauns. They’ve taken over a warehouse.”
“The little magic guys who play with coins and fix shoes?”
“Some of them. Most of them are like Dwarfs, but skinnier and they can do magic. The shoe thing started because there was a Leprechaun kingdom that made excellent shoes.”
“Do you just make this stuff up,” Kaiden asks.
“No, I learned this all when I was in school,” I slept in class a lot, I probably am making this stuff up.
“Okay, I’ll believe you, until I look it up.”
“As I was saying, they never bothered to practice weapon making because they had magic. Should be an easy job that pays well. They don’t fight as much as rumors say.”
“Is anyone going to look like what I think thought they would or be anything like the stories,” Kaiden asks.
“Probably not, I remember my first class on the supernatural as they call it. Fairy tails don’t really do anyone justice. I thought Elves were the guys in Santa’s workshop,” I can’t help but laugh. “Whole time, Elser was an Elf, or at least half.”
“You think he and Dalia were really a thing?”
“They still are, even if I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Really? I never saw them together.”
“They just don’t like public affection.”
Sam comes back with some sandwiches and drinks for us. There’s nothing fancy, but I’m actually grateful for it. I don’t have a lot of money, so I’ve been really limiting what I eat, pretending I’m not hungry; I just want to make sure I have enough to feed Kaiden. Dalia entrusted me to take care of him, and I can’t let him go hungry. I just wasn’t aware how much kids eat and he seems like he’s been even hungrier since he drank that potion.
“Who pays us for these jobs,” Kaiden asks.
“Depends on who listed it. This one is just cash on delivery. That means the person who issued it will pay us. Others are listed by the Shadow Syndicate. They’ll get paid a fee for listing and about 90% of the money will come to us.”
“Shadow Syndicate? What is that,” Kaiden looks confused.
“A long time ago, a wizard, a mercenary and an adventurer came together as friends and took on jobs as a guild. Sometimes they hunted creatures, sometimes they hunted treasures or even people. Eventually they expanded and began to give out licenses to determine who could take these jobs as a they were dangerous. To get a license you can pass a test, do a set number of jobs with a mentor, complete a group quest with others who managed to get a provisional license. There were and still are other guilds, but they all follow the Shadow Syndicate’s license policy. So my license is from The Shadow Syndicate, but they just have this region locked down. If you went to the West Coast I’m sure there would be a different process.”
“Wait, go back, so all the missions aren’t to kill vampires?”
“Nope, there’s so many more. There’s courier, treasure hunting, security, even medical and cooking.”
“That’s crazy. When can I get a license?”
“Well, you’ve got the test to pass for a provisional license. You’ll need to study for the written part and score at least 1500. You can do that, you seem like a fast learner. After that there’s a skills test. It changes every year so I can’t give you an answer what that’ll be. Sometimes it’s sparring, sometimes there’s a massive game or puzzle to solve. Just show your skill. Lastly you’ll need to complete 1,000 supervised.”
“1,000? What? That’s insane. How can anyone do that,” Kaiden is overtaken with fear.
“Well, most people at the temple start missions when they’re around 16, so when they turn 21 they can receive their license. The training from 14-16 is mostly to make sure they can pass the knowledge test and skill tests. You’re a little behind so if we start now, by the time you’re 23 or 24 you’ll have a license. Some people wait until 40 to even try so don’t get discouraged.”
“This is a lot to take in, and I feel like I don’t know half the stuff I need to,” Kaiden seems to worry a lot about the little things, then completely ignores the big things. He was worried about studying, but not the fact that he blew up a treehouse and an apartment building.
“Well, the good news is we’ll be able to work on everything at once since we’re not at the temple.”
“Okay, when do we start,” there’s his eagerness.
Sam brings out some burgers and fries for us for us this time, not content with just sandwiches. Between bringing us ridiculous amounts of food he asks more questions about Dalia. He keeps to basic questions, and stays respectful, so I indulge him, and my stomach. He said we’d only be able to have whatever he had as leftovers, but he’s cooking these dishes himself. I can still see the oil on the fries. I spend the next few minutes answering Kaiden’s questions between fries. When I finally taste the burger, I don’t even hear what he’s saying anymore. He takes a bite of the burger and feels the same. Sam laughs at us from across the bar, finally serving us food that gets more than thanks.
“Never had a burger so good right,” he asks.
“The best ever,” Kaiden yells out.
“What kind of meat is this,” I ask. I’ve never tasted anything like it.
“Just regular cow meat. I’m guessing you never had food prepared with magic,” Sam asks.
“No, I didn’t even know that was a thing. I would have worked harder to improve my magic skills,” I’m genuinely surprised.
“Yeah, I didn’t know either. Turns out here in the city, things aren’t as simple as they make them seem in the temple. There’s a ton of different ways magic gets used out here. Take those burgers for instance. They look cooked, and they are. Just like any other burger. But, with a little magic, the meat doesn’t realize it’s been cooked so the protein that breaks down when cooked won’t release until it’s in your mouth. Your minds are probably blown now. Wait until you find out about all the stuff technology can do. Oh, and some people are so smart they can combine the two. You’ve seen a TV and heard a radio, right? Well, I’ve seen a radio that’s able to create visuals of what’s playing. You must not have been out of the temple long if you’re surprised by a bit of magic cooking. They have this idea that you should deprive yourself of all pleasures to be a good person, and I can’t live like that. Nobody should have to live like that. If you’re a good person your actions will show it, not how much you’ve tortured yourself. Burgers must be good, most people tell me I’m long winded and cut me off by now,” he pauses waiting for us to respond. “A word of advice to you boys. People in the city suck. They’re assholes, not to be trusted. But, there are still good people out there. Make friends, allies, you’ll need them. Things aren’t that simple here. Get a car, traffic sucks, but if you’re driving during rush hour it isn’t as bad and it might be faster depending on where you’re doing. Property is expensive, but your line of work pays well, buy yourself a house, condo or a nice brownstone. Work hard, and you can buy your own apartment complex, retire early. Rent is always raising in this city so get to work on that. Don’t forget what you boys learned at the temple, just understand things are different in the city and everyone reacts differently. Take vampires for instance. In the country, they hide. Here, they flaunt their status. Werewolves are the opposite. Not a lot of open space for us to thrive in.”
“I’ll keep all of that in mind,” I interrupt. He could talk forever.
“Must have finished the burger,” Sam laughs again. He laughs a lot, unlike the permanent scowl on his face and tattooed skull.
“Yeah, it was great. Best one I’ve ever had. Thanks for the advice. I’ll look into a more permanent living arrangement,” he gave solid tips.
“But, I like our apartment,” Kaiden jumps in.
“We barely have furniture.”
“Well, Mr. Sam says your work pays well so we should just buy some. How much does this job pay anyway?”
“You shouldn’t ask an adult how much money they make,” Sam stops Kaiden.
“We’re a team. I should know how much we’re getting,” Kaiden argues.
“No big deal Sam, I planned on giving him a cut anyway. Alright, jobs are broken down by level. D Level are pretty easy. Usually they don’t require a ton of work or combat. The mission we picked is a D Level. They usually pay between $500 and $5,000. A lot of these are manual labor, puzzle solving, maybe finding a lost object,” the highest rank I’ve completed so far is a B-Level, so I wanted to ease back in.
“Who picks the levels,” Kaiden hands Sam his plate, but doesn’t take his eyes off me.
“The Shadow Syndicate, but they aren’t always accurate, and some jobs are unranked. The next level is C-Rank. These are my bread and butter. They pay between $3,000 and $10,000. A challenge here and there, but nothing that will get me killed, but I get to throw down. Most of these are going be guarding people or items, bounty hunting, missing persons, stopping thieves or clearing out pest problems. Pests like vampires, Orcs, and sometimes assassinations.”
“Assassinations! Have you killed people,” Kaiden asks in shock.
“I’ve killed at least three dozen vampires, 2 werewolves, and one Orc for sure. Killing isn’t my first option. Usually it’s injure, and neutralize, but killing happens. Some folks get a kick out of it, and try to kill on every mission. I don’t. Every kill I’ve made has been self-defense,” every one of them was self-defense.
The list was is a lot longer than what I told Kaiden. The temple’s official policy is to kill anything or anyone hostile. Sam and I share a look of not wanting to crush Kaiden’s innocence the way the temple crushed ours. I killed my first vampire at seventeen, and my first human at nineteen. Between those there were dozens of vampires, three Orcs and a half Troll. I’ve lost count, but I remember every kill. I could probably count if I choose to relive them, but I’ve been taught to compartmentalize and remove all feelings attached to those kills.
“But you carry a gun,” Kaiden breaks my train of thought.
“I do. I also carry knives, flashlights, sun grenades, some explosives and a bunch of other stuff. Guns are a tool. You don’t have to kill a person with every shot.”
“I’m one of the people who kills everything that gets in my way,” Sam shows Kaiden a twisted smile with a few extra canine teeth, reminding us of his werewolf side. “Now eat up,” he sits down a few pieces of cheesecake before heading back to the kitchen.
“B-Level almost always involve fighting for me; usually with someone strong. The mission types aren’t much different than C-Level. Although at this level you might get involved in some espionage, and some of them are long term missions. Pay for these around $15,000 and $20,000.”
“Woah, you must be loaded from all the missions you did with the temple.”
“No. The temple kept most of the money. I’m certainly going to keep most of the money from jobs we do together, because I’m going to do the heavy lifting. No offense, but I’ll never short you the way the temple did us. If we were to do a job for $20,000 and the temple would pay us $100 each.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it did. Now A-Level missions might even be from a politician or local figure. Might even be joining an army for a while. Pay for these is usually starts at $25,000 and I’ve seen them go past a few million.”
“Did you say million?”
“Yeah.”
“We need to do some of those. Let’s look at the jobs again,” Kaiden says swallowing a big piece of cheesecake.”
“I haven’t really gotten to that level yet. You have to complete a certain number of missions before the next level is available to you. I’ve only gone up to B-Rank. Now, the last rank is S-Level. I can’t even tell you what the missions are like there. I can tell you the pay is at least one million, and usually someone picks you specifically for these missions.”
“Any more questions?”
“For now, nope.”
“Good, let’s go evict some Leprechauns. Sam, what do I owe you,” I ask as he takes the plates.
“You don’t owe me nothing. You’re Dalia’s boys. Just promise to come if I call you for a favor,” he extends his hand.
“I’ll make sure to give you my number when I get a phone,” I shake his hand.
“Get a damn cell phone boy. You’re going to be screwed without one. Now take care, and if you hear from Dalia, tell her old Sam is still waiting.”
ns 15.158.61.21da2
